Saturday 11th January 2025

Woke around 0900. Got up and made tea then walked up to the Farmer’s Market to buy bread. Aki preparing brunch when I got back. Couldn’t do the washing up afterward as the sink blocked! Spent half an hour taking the trap to bits and cleaning it out…a lot of gunk got spat out of the overflow, but no joy. Aki nipped round to the DIY shop and bought a litre of high performance no acid unblocker. We decided to leave it til later as we had tickets for a matinee…caught a bus to Stamford, then another down the A10 to Dalston. Sat in the foyer of the Arcola Theatre where we met Katrina…the show, Tarantula, a new solo piece by Philip Ridley, was on in the small studio…it was a full house. Aki recognised a lavishly moustached fellow sat behind us…he’d been a contestant on MasterChef! 

The 90 minute piece took place on a bare set…just a rubber mat for a floor…but Georgie Henley filled the space with character, and Philip’s stunning script filled our imaginations…Georgie was given a well deserved rousing reception at the end…she’s got to do it all again this evening! We walked up Kingsland Road and got a bus to Stoke Newington. Managed to get a table at Rasa for dinner…very tasty as always, and great value in this day and age! 

Katrina told us that Tony is selling his Hastings house…his mum and dad are selling their Seaford bungalow, and they’re all going to live in Egham, near Tony’s elder brother, so as to look after mum and dad in their declining years…dad has dementia, and mum is struggling to cope. Said our goodbyes to Katrina on the corner of Church Street and High Street, and caught a couple of buses home. Tried the sink unblocker, but it didn’t work…suspect it’s something to do with the waste from the washing machine…